Murder Cases
Without a Body

Choctaw County, AL

Choctaw Three

1999

In Feb. 1999, Victoria Bell Banks was in the county jail and
pretended to be pregnant as a ploy to get released. She had two
doctors check on her, the second of which claimed to have heard a fetal
heartbeat. Victoria was released on bond in May 1999, after she
threatened to sue the jail for failing to provide prenatal care. In
August, the sheriff, Donald Lolly, stopped Victoria and questioned her about
the baby that was due in June. After Victoria told him she miscarried,
the sheriff took her to the second doctor who examined her before, and he
could find no evidence she had ever been pregnant. The sheriff then
had officials with the Alabama Bureau of Investigation question her to find
out where was the missing baby. Victoria could not have been pregnant
because she had had her tubes tied in 1995.

After being questioned for extended periods of time, Victoria,
her husband Medell Banks Jr., and her sister, Dianne Bell Tucker all
reportedly confessed to participating in the killing of the non-existent
child. They were charged with capital murder in Sept. 1999. Rather than face the electric chair, Victoria pleaded guilty to manslaughter
after her trial had begun in Nov 2000, and the other two did likewise six
months later as their trial dates approached. All were sentenced to 15
years in prison. A nationally known fertility doctor examined Victoria
and concluded she was sterile. The prosecutor filed perjury charges
against Victoria for telling a judge she had not been pregnant. The
charges were dismissed in Jan. 2003 when Victoria signed a statement that
said, “I, Victoria Banks, hereby state that I lied when I said I didn't have
a baby. I am sorry.” Medell Banks faced retrial on capital
murder charges in Jan 2003, but all charges were dropped after pretrial
hearings established that Medell never admitted to killing a baby. (Justice:
Denied) (ForeJustice) (IDE) (Small
Town Justice) (P2)
(P3)
[11/05]

Kodiak Island, AK

Donald McDonald

Mar 28, 1986

After 28-year-old Laura Henderson Ibach disappeared,
Donald “Mac” McDonald and James Kerwin were charged with her kidnapping and
later with her murder. Laura was last seen with McDonald and Kerwin in
McDonald's van on the night of her disappearance. According to the two
she had only been with them for a short period and they gave a plausible
explanation as to why.Read More by Clicking Here

Washington, DC

Jay Lentz

Apr 23, 1996

(Federal Case) Thirty-one-year-old Doris Faye Lentz
disappeared on Apri1 23, 1996 after telling a friend she was driving from
her Arlington, VA home to pick up her 4-year-old daughter, Julia, at her
ex-husband's home in Fort Washington, MD. Her ex-husband, Jay E. Lentz
was a naval intelligence officer. Doris was once an aide to Senator
James Sasser of Tennessee. Doris's blood spattered automobile was
found a week after her disappearance in southeast Washington, DC. Federal prosecutors suspected Jay murdered her. They did not have
sufficient evidence to bring murder charges against him as there was no
body, no weapon, no eyewitnesses, and no crime scene.Read More by Clicking Here

Clinton County, OH

Vincent Doan

Aug 29, 1996 (Blanchester)

Vincent Doan was convicted of the kidnapping and murder of his
girlfriend, Clarissa Culberson, also known as Carrie. He was sentenced
to 888 years in prison. Culberson, then 22, mysteriously disappeared
one night and is presumed dead. Neither her body nor her car have ever
been found. The case against Doan was based on speculation, guesswork,
and hearsay, with no hard evidence.

In 2004, police received a tip that Culberson's body was
buried on the property of Jarrod Messer. Cadaver detecting dogs were
brought in and hit on a scent. Seven items were found buried under the
concrete floor of Messer's barn. They included a piece of duct tape, a
sock, and a shirt. Culberson's mother identified the shirt as her
daughter's. Police said the concrete was poured just days after
Culberson's disappearance.

Culberson knew Messer and even introduced him to her mother. Messer associated with Michael Fogt, who was later convicted of the 1998
murder of his wife. The father of Fogt's wife believes his daughter
was killed because she knew too much. Fogt also shot Messer in the
back in 1998, but Messer refused to press charges. In addition to the
murder of his wife, Fogt was also convicted of a 1994 rape and the 2003
murder of a Hillsboro woman. Culberson knew Fogt because he lived next
door to her best friend's parents. (Justice
for Vincent Doan) [3/08]

Pontotoc County, OK

Ward & Fontenot

Apr 28, 1984 (Ada)

Tommy Ward and Karl Fontenot were convicted of murdering
Denice Haraway. Haraway, 24, worked part-time at McAnally's convenience
store. She was last seen leaving the store with a man who had his arm
around her waist. The two appeared to be a pair of lovers. The store was
found deserted with the cash register drawer opened and emptied. Haraway's
purse and driver's license were found inside, and her car nearby.Read More by Clicking Here

Delaware County, PA

Robert Rivera

Aug 10, 1999

Robert Norman Rivera was convicted in 2002 of murdering his
20-month-old daughter, Katelyn Rivera. On Aug. 10, 1999, Robert picked up
Katelyn at her day care in Boothwyn, PA, took her to the zoo, to a fast-food
restaurant, and to other places. Technically, Aug. 10 was not a scheduled
day for Robert to have custody of Katelyn. Robert then repeatedly tried to
return her to her mother, Jennifer Helton, but Helton refused to take her. Apparently, Helton wanted greater custody rights and wanted to prolong
Rivera's care of her so she could argue that he did not return her. Later
that night Rivera took Katelyn to a tourist location (Longwood Gardens) and
while there said he met a couple and ended up giving them custody of Katelyn
as he had no money to continue caring for her.Read More by Clicking Here

Grant County, WV

Paul Ferrell

Feb 17, 1988

Paul William Ferrell, a rookie sheriff's deputy, was convicted
of the murder of Cathy Ford, a 19-year-old waitress from nearby Maryland.
Her body has never been found and no one had ever seen her with Ferrell.
Some time after Ford's disappearance, her boyfriend, Darvin Moon, discovered
her badly burned truck 75 yards from Ford's trailer home. Some believed that
the truck was burned elsewhere because there was no scorching on the
vegetation surrounding the vehicle.Read More by Clicking Here

Ontario, Canada

Robert Baltovich

June 19, 1990 (Toronto)

Robert Baltovich was convicted in 1992 of murdering his
22-year-old girlfriend, Elizabeth Bain, even though her body was never
found. Bain was last seen Tuesday June 19, 1990 on the University of
Toronto's Scarborough Campus. Her car was found the following Friday,
parked at an auto body shop near campus. Blood was pooled on the floor
in the back, suggesting she was murdered.

No physical evidence connects Baltovich to the alleged murder. According to the crown, Baltovich killed Bain by 7 p.m. on the day of her
disappearance. However, Baltovich was seen waiting to meet her outside
a 9 p.m. class that she took. The crown also argued that Baltovich
drove Bain's car after 1 a.m. Friday morning to Lake Scugog, an hour's drive
north of Toronto. He then allegedly buried her body in the mud of the
lake before returning to Toronto by 6 a.m. However, Baltovich
reportedly could not drive Bain's car because it had a manual transmission.

Since Baltovich's conviction, his lawyers have argued that
serial killer Paul Bernardo is a stronger suspect than Baltovich in Bain's
murder. At the time of Bain's disappearance, Bernardo was known as the
Scarborough rapist. An award winning book called No Claim to Mercy by
Derek Finkle was written about Baltovich's case in 1998. Following a
hearing in September 2004, the Ontario Court of Appeal ordered a new trial,
citing an unfair and unbalanced charge to jury during the first trial. At retrial in 2008, the crown presented no evidence and urged the jury to
acquit Baltovich, which the jury promptly did.

The crown's sudden decision not to retry Baltovich was
apparently prompted by one of its witnesses. Four days before the
retrial, the victim's father, Rick Bain, told the crown that his daughter
told him of an imminent rendezvous with Baltovich on the day of her murder. Since the witness had never mentioned this conversation before, he
presumably was planning to perjure himself in an effort to convict
Baltovich. Disclosure rules forced the crown had to inform the defence
of the conversation. Even if the witness stuck to his previous
testimony, the defence could use his reported conversation to undermine his
credibility. (IB)
(Wiki) [4/08]

England

Pinfold & MacKenney

Nov 1974

Terry Pinfold
and Harry MacKenney were convicted of murder based on the testimony of a
sole witness. This witness testified the pair murdered a man, but this man
was later known to be alive three years after his alleged slaying.Read More by Clicking Here

Australia (NT)

Lindy Chamberlain

Aug 17, 1980

Lindy Chamberlain was convicted of murdering her 10-week-old
daughter Azaria. Lindy claimed Azaria was snatched by a wild dog, known as
a dingo, from a campsite in central Australia. Azaria was never seen
again. (www.lindychamberlain.com)
(A Cry in the Dark)
[12/10]

Australia (SA)

Raymond Geesing

Jan 4-5, 1983

Raymond John Geesing was convicted of the abduction and murder
of 10-year-old Louise Bell. Bell was last seen at 10 p.m. on Jan 4, 1983 in
the bedroom of her family home at 5 Meadow Way in Hackham West, an Adelaide
suburb. She was discovered missing the next morning and her body has never
been found. Geesing was convicted of the crime in 1983 due to the testimony
of four prison informants who alleged he had confessed to them. One
informant later retracted his original statement and the testimony of
another informant was declared inadmissible. In 1985 an appeals court
overturned Geesing's conviction after ruling that the prison informants were
unreliable and untrustworthy witnesses. The court also ordered that there
be no retrial. Geesing was released after serving 17 months of a life
sentence. (JD33) [11/09]

Australia (WA)

Rory Christie

Nov 15, 2001

Rory Christie was convicted of the murder of his wife, Susan
Christie. He was charged nearly a year after her disappearance. On retrial
he was judicially acquitted because the evidence was insufficient to convict
him. (IPWA)
(Christie
v. The Queen) (Regina
v. Christie)